Pokémon: When the World Changed

Chapter 606 601: The Dispute of the Starter Pokémon

"Phew, the battles for today have finally ended."

At night, Ethan returned to the Pokémon Researchers Guild of the Imperial City.

With his current status as a Pokémon Professor in training, it was no problem at all to obtain a place to stay within the guild.

After returning, the first thing he did was release all of his Pokémon.

"Rhyypperrior!"

Rhyperior was still clearly in a state of great excitement.

Today's battle had truly made it enjoy itself.

What had it worked so hard for all this time?

Wasn't it precisely to reach a glorious moment like today?

"Rhyperior, you still need to keep working hard," Ethan said seriously. "The reason you won so easily today is entirely because your opponents didn't know you. After today, they will undoubtedly start to be wary of you. Therefore, the upcoming battles will be the real test for you."

Seeing Rhyperior's proud attitude, Ethan did not hesitate to bring it down a notch.

Just as he had said, Rhyperior's victory was completely based on the element of surprise.

If the rivals prepared in advance, the side effects of the move Rock Wrecker would instantly be amplified.

Moreover, the side effects of that move were far too severe. Taking the last charging attack as an example: its principle consisted of using the move Smack Down executed through the move Rock Wrecker.

Although its power was truly terrifying, after using it the side effects were almost three or four times greater than those of the normal Rock Wrecker move.

If Rhyperior had not immediately defeated Ludicolo with that attack, it would have been enough for Ludicolo to recover slightly and launch several consecutive jets of water for Rhyperior, with its poor special defense, to be completely unable to withstand it.

"Rhyypperrior!"

"Rhyypperrior!"

Rhyperior also realized that it had been too overconfident and let out a couple of embarrassed roars.

"Work hard. As long as you can fully develop the move Rock Wrecker... you will be able to walk your own path thanks to this move, and even surpass your parents."

Ethan smiled as he spoke, and in his mind Rhyperior's training plan was already beginning to take shape.

Thanks to the physical conditioning that Professor Harris had given it when it was young, Rhyperior's body far surpassed that of others of its species.

However, the price was that it now mastered very few moves, barely a handful of rock-type ones.

As for this, Ethan had no intention of correcting it, but rather allowing Rhyperior to concentrate more energy on other moves.

He planned to start from the move Rock Wrecker, a move that could practically be considered exclusive to Rhyperior, and combine it with its powerful physique to train it as a true close-combat battle battery.

A single move well mastered is enough to face everything. In today's battles, the move Rock Wrecker combined with the move Smack Down had already proven capable of dealing with almost any situation, as long as the problem of the side effects was solved first.

Regarding this, Ethan already had some ideas.

The first was to continue strengthening Rhyperior's body. The second was to research the ability Rock Head.

What Ethan found regrettable was that the ability Rock Head it originally possessed had transformed into the ability Solid Rock after evolving.

The ability Rock Head could nullify recoil damage from moves, while the ability Solid Rock reduced the damage received from super effective moves.

Both abilities were oriented toward defense and, to a certain extent, strengthened Rhyperior's defensive capability.

When it had previously faced Machamp, the fact that it could resist fighting-type moves so easily was largely due to the ability Solid Rock.

Precisely the ability of Rock Head to nullify recoil damage was the point Ethan planned to research next.

Although the temporary inability to move after using the move Rock Wrecker was due to exhaustion, and there was not much that could be done about that, the side effects of the Rock Wrecker Hammer and of the Smack Down move plus the Rock Wrecker move were much greater because they caused additional damage to the body.

That relationship between those damages and the ability Rock Head was the main focus of the research Ethan wanted to deepen.

Besides the ability Rock Head, he also planned to research the ability Solid Rock. The mere fact of how the ability Rock Head transformed into the ability Solid Rock was already a very valuable research topic.

On the other hand, regarding continuing to strengthen Rhyperior's body, Ethan also had some ideas, and he planned to begin precisely from the ability Solid Rock.

According to his memories, Onix strengthened its body thanks to the pressure in the depths underground. It was said that as it grew, the composition of its rocks changed, becoming as hard as black diamonds.

Steelix, the evolution of Onix, possessed a body forged under enormous pressures and high temperatures in the depths, harder than any metal.

Perhaps this point could be used to develop Rhyperior's Solid Rock ability and, at the same time, temper its body.

Both ideas were perfectly viable, although they required certain methods and studies.

Of course, when Ethan talked about research, he did not plan to do it personally. He still had some points in the guild, and soon, upon becoming a Pokémon Professor, he would receive even more. With that, he could hire other researchers through point rewards.

Additionally, Professor Harris's Rhydon was about to evolve into Rhyperior, so he could also discuss this plan with him.

This would also greatly strengthen Professor Harris's future Rhyperior, so it was certain that he would be interested.

...

The next day, the competition continued.

In the battles of that day, Ethan once again sent Rhyperior into combat.

Thanks to its mastery of the move Rock Wrecker and the move Smack Down, it continued winning with relative ease.

However, after another day passed, the competitors began to devise specific tactics against it, and Rhyperior started to encounter difficult situations.

Seeing this, Ethan simply smiled slightly; it was exactly what he wanted to see.

If all the battles were too easy, it would not be beneficial for its growth. Proper setbacks were, in fact, a catalyst for its progress.

Very soon, the competition entered the round of the top thirty-two of the winners' bracket, and from that moment on, the strength of the opponents clearly reached its peak.

The remaining trainers were practically all at the professional level, and from there the fight for the world championship slots officially began.

"My opponent is... Lucas?"

Upon seeing the new matchups, Ethan was slightly surprised.

Then he looked at Lucas, who was also looking at him.

"We meet again," Lucas said as he stood up and lightly clenched his fist. "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

"I'm also looking forward to it very much," Ethan replied with a smile.

After that, both of them walked together toward the battlefield.

"The battle between competitor Ethan Black and competitor Lucas Silver begins now. The rules are 3 versus 3, and the first turn belongs to Ethan Black."

With the referee's announcement, the battle officially began, provoking a loud cheer from the audience.

"The first turn is mine?"

"Then, go! Charizard!"

With the opening of the Poké Ball, Charizard appeared in the air.

"Charizard, huh?"

"Then my Pokémon will be this one."

Upon seeing Charizard, Lucas's eyes lit up.

After opening his Poké Ball, a steel- and water-type Pokémon appeared on the field: Empoleon.

"Empoleon..."

Ethan suddenly smiled.

He had already guessed Lucas's intention.

Same moment, same method, the same starter Pokémon.

Lucas clearly wanted to declare a frontal war against Ethan.

"The first turn is mine. Sunny Day!"

After Ethan's order, Charizard quickly flew toward the sky and launched a fireball that rose into the air.

At the same time, Empoleon used the move Hydro Pump, which Charizard quickly dodged.

"Empoleon, Hydro Pump!"

"Charizard, Flamethrower!"

The two attacks collided once again.

Then, to the audience's surprise, Charizard's Flamethrower directly suppressed the Hydro Pump move.

"Swords Dance!"

Just as the Flamethrower was about to reach Empoleon, it quickly executed the move Swords Dance, and the rapidly spinning blades formed an impenetrable net that cut through the fire.

"Water Cut!"

After strengthening itself with Swords Dance, Empoleon quickly swung its steel wings.

Slash!

A sharp sound echoed in the air, and a stream of water shot toward Charizard.

"Charizard, Dragon Claw!"

The attack was too fast, and Charizard had no time to dodge.

Boom!

The Dragon Claw move and Water Cut collided, pushing Charizard slightly backward.

Slash, slash!

Suddenly, more cutting sounds were heard.

Empoleon, maintaining the Swords Dance posture, launched several streams of Water Cut one after another.

"Is this... Aqua Jet?"

"I see, it uses the airflow of Swords Dance as support to execute Aqua Jet, turning it into cutting energy, and taking advantage of Aqua Jet's priority to increase the speed of the attack."

Seeing this, Ethan narrowed his eyes.

The move Aqua Jet allowed one to always attack first, wrapping the body in water to launch the attack. But Empoleon had taken an alternative path, using the cutting energy of the move Swords Dance as support, perfectly inheriting the priority of the move Aqua Jet and, thanks to the reinforcement of the blade, greatly increasing the offensive power of a move that normally was not very strong.

And the most troublesome thing was that those Water Cuts only served to contain the opponent, while Empoleon continued using the move Swords Dance without interruption.

As time passed, Lucas had also grown, combining the characteristics of his Pokémon to forge his own path.

"What a powerful Empoleon!"

"It's the first time I've seen a battle style like this."

"It's incredible, Ethan's Charizard is being completely suppressed!"

Seeing this, the audience burst into cheers, and the atmosphere of the stadium became completely heated.

(End of Chapter)